Asia Cup 2018: The full list of Indian Team that will play the Asia Cup in Dubai

India will also face Pakistan in an action-packed Asia Cup in the UAE.

After what has been a whirlwind of a series in India’s tour to England, the focus in the very busy cricketing season shifts to the Middle East. Six countries from the continent will battle it out at the Asia Cup 2018 scheduled to be held in United Arab Emirates (UAE) from September 15. India will play ODI debutants Hong Kong in their opening game on September 18 before facing Pakistan the very next day. The other group includes Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Two teams will qualify from the group stages to play the Super Fours from where two teams will go through to the final in Dubai on September 28. National selectors recently announced the squad for the tournament keeping in mind the busy schedule leading up to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.

Team India squad for the Asia Cup 2018

India was hit with back-to-back injury blows in its first two games in the Asia Cup 2018. In the first match against Hong Kong, Axar Patel who was fielding as a substitute, tore a tendon on his left index finger. The next day, in the match against Pakistan, Hardik Pandya was taken on a stretcher as he suffered acute lower back injury while bowling his first over. Both of them have been ruled out for the rest of the Asia Cup. Apart from these two, even Shardul Thakur’s sore hip and groin has forced him out of the tournament. BCCI announced a like-for-like replacements for all three on Thursday in Deepak Chahar, Ravindra Jadeja and Siddarth Kaul. While Kaul and Chahar played for in the Tri-nation tournament earlier this year, Jadeja is making a comeback to white ball cricket after a gap of over 14 months.

One of the key highlights of the squad selection for Asia Cup 2018 was the exclusion of skipper Virat Kohli. The captain who has been a part of a rather strenuous season since the start of the year will have a much needed break as Rohit Sharma is appointed the captain for the tournament. Remember, as per the Asia Cup 2018 schedule, India play their first match on September 18, which is exactly five days after the last day of action in India’s tour to England.

A lot of India’s first team regulars that played in England have been rested for the Asia Cup as players like Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav and Ambati Rayudu have been included. Meanwhile, veteran Suresh Raina along with Umesh Yadav and Siddarth Kaul has also been recalled into the squad after playing in the ODI series against England.

The selectors were particular about easing Virat Kohli’s workload who had injury worries during India’s matches in England. While Kohli missed his stint with Surrey before the series, he complained of a lower-back strain during the second test at Lord’s. Another issue that the selectors were keen to solve was India’s middle-order troubles. With the ICC World Cup 2019 on the horizon, India needs to figure out the best middle-order batsmen and will hope that the inclusion of Rayudu and Raina will resolve this to a certain extent.

Among bowlers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is back in the team after missing the England test series after aggravating his lower back injury during the third ODI at Leeds. Meanwhile Bumrah will give him company in the Asia Cup. The squad also includes 20-year-old pace prospect Khaleel Ahmed who has shined in the domestic front. Here is the full 16-member list of India’s squad that will travel to the UAE for Asia Cup 2018:

India is currently playing its last test match in what has been a gruelling series in England. While India won the T20I tournament, they lost the three match ODI series 1-2 and has already lost the five match test series 1-3 with the final test currently underway at the Oval.